Rich Shortcrust

‘Rich’, in terms of shortcrust, normally implies an egg to bind, and more than half fat to flour, but I find my method makes the pastry taste both more tender and more buttery anyway, so I don’t change the basic shortcrust ratio. You can, of course: in which case, with 120g flour, use 80g fat. In all cases, I prefer half lard, half butter. Lard is unfashionable these days, but it is seriously underrated, both as a frying medium and, here, as a pastry shortener; it helps the crust get wonder